Hey, look, the brand-new BMW X5 is here! I know, it's yesterday news, everyone has seen it. Well, I'm not exactly anxious to get up early in the morning so yeah, I'm usually late on the news. But here's something no one appears to have noticed yet: the SUV's trunk is now smaller. And not by a little bit, it's significantly smaller, despite the X5 being slightly bigger.

How Much Cargo Room Does the 2019 BMW X5 Have?

Specifically, while the new X5 is some two inches longer and more than two inches wider than its predecessor, cargo capacity has decreased from the previous 35.8 cubic feet to only 31.7 cubic feet with the rear seats up. That's four cubic feet or about 11 percent less than the old X5. Ridiculous!

There's no data for cargo room with the rear seats folded flat, but expect that to drop too. The outgoing X5 can swallow up to 76.7 cubic feet of luggage, and the new SUV will probably take less than 70.

Editors Note: The figures mentioned above come from U.S.-based press information. Global press information shows different numbers, with minimum cargo room coming in at 645 liters (22.8 cu-ft) and maximum coming in at 1860 liters or 65.7 cu-ft. Those numbers represent a 13 cu-ft drop in minimum cargo room and an 11 cu-ft drop in maximum cargo room.

How did this happen?

Well, there's no official explanation. BMW's official spec sheet lists 31.7 cubic feet for the gasoline models, so there's no battery and hybrid system to take up space in the trunk. A battery wouldn't do that anyway as modern hybrids, and EVs have them stored under the floor.

Could it be an error? I don't think so. My honest opinion is that BMW simply screwed up. This isn't a mistake though. My best guess is that BMW wants a clear separation between the X5 and the upcoming X7 and it designed a smaller trunk for the former so the latter would benefit from the company's largest boot yet. Yes, it could all be a marketing scheme. An incredibly stupid one because the previous X5 had a bigger trunk than the Audi Q7 and the Mercedes-Benz GLE. If the rating for the folded rear seats drops below 70 cubic feet, BMW loses its advantage (or around five cubic feet) over both.

Well, at least BMW came up with something new. While trunks become slightly bigger with new-generation designs, the Germans managed to make it smaller.

Further Reading

Read everything we know about the 2019 BMW X5.

Read our full review on the 2017 BMW X5.

Read more BMW news.

Read more Pops' Rants news.